Hat-block



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APPLICAT CT. 6. 1919 1,861,658, l Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAT-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Application filed October 6, 1919. Serial No. 328,641.

To all lwhom t may concern.

Be it known that I, KATHRYNE WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Hat- Blocks, of which the following is a specilication.

The invention relates to apparel apparatus and more particularly to hat blocks and has for an obj ect to provide a device for use in the manufacture and blocking of hats, to greatly expedite the making and forming of hats and'particularly the crowns thereof, to desired shapes and sizes.

Among other features the inventioncomprehends the provision of a compactarticle that can be readily handled and adjusted by the operator for the accommodation of the material or body employed in the manufacture of the crowns of hats and for the forming and shaping` thereof to the desired sizes and contour, the construction and simple arrangement of the parts, forming the block, being such that the block can be conveniently and easily handled for the preliminary construction work, steaming and pressing and other operations necessary to the accurate and proper formation of the crowns of hats, particularly as to custom made ladies headgear. v

Still further the invention comprehends a device which, because of the simple nature of the parts and the easy assembly thereof, provides a construction that can be cheaply manufactured and easily operated to accomplish the desired result. y l In the further disclosure of the invention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the hat block,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, taken through the block on substantially the line 2 2 in Fig. 1, e Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view, taken through the block, showing the connecting means for adjusting the block sections,

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view, detailing the operating mechanism,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional yiew showing in detail the manner of mountlng the guide pieces relative to the block sections, and l Fig. is a perspective view of one of the insert pieces, which may be employed in connection with my device.

` Referring more particularly Vto the views, the hat block in its entirety is indicated by the numeral 10 and comprises a plurality of block sections 11, each of substantially the same shape and design and formed in the underside with a cut-out portion 12, provid.- ing, when the block sections are assembled, a chamber or compartment 13. Each block section, in the underside, has a gouged out portion or groove 14, communicating with the cut-out portion 12 and a spider-like frame 15 has a number of extensions or guide bars16 arranged to extend into the grooves 14, housings 17 being secured to the undersides of the sections to form closures for the grooves and provide sliding surfaces for the sections so that the latter can readily slide on the guide bars 16. The central portion of the spider frame 15 is formed to provide a bearing 18, having a centrally arranged squared opening 19 and the bearing furthermore has suitable standards 20 attached thereto.

The operating mechanism of the device includes a handled stem 21', having squared portions 22 and a round or circumferential portion 23, said stem being disposed to pass through the opening 19 of the bearing 18 and through a central opening 24 in a disk or plate 25 which is rotatably supported between lugs 26 on the standards 20. The free end of the stem carries a cross pin 27 serving to retain in position an expansible helical spring 28 which encircles the free end of the stem and abuts againstv the disk 25. Thus it will be seen that when the stem is in the position shown in Fig. `5, the lower squared portion 22 fits into the squared opening 19 and an upper squared portion near the free end of the stern lits through the opening 24 of the disk 25, said latter opening also being square. The handle of the stem 21 is indicated by the numeral 29 and has a collar portion 30 limiting the inward movement of the stem and it will be clear that the stem, when in its normal position, will be locked against rotation and that when a downward pull is exerted on the handle removing the lower squared portion of the stem from the opening 19 to advance the round portion of the stem therethrough, rotation of the stem can be brought about by actuating the handle, thus rotating or actuating the disk 25 and that when the grip on the handle is released, the spring 28 will return the stem to normal locked position. Suitably pivoted on the disk 25 are a series of rods 31, one for each block section 11, the free ends of said rods being suitably swiveled at 32 to the block sections with the normal positions of the rods substantially tangential to the periphery of the disk 25.

Now when the disk 25 is actuated to be rotated in one direction it will be apparent that a thrust exerted along the rods 31 will slide the block sections 11 apart and thatwhen the`rota-tion of the disk is reversed the pull exerted on the rods will draw the block sections toward each other. It will also be clear that the block sections in their movements toward or away from each other are guided by the guide bars or extensions 16 on the spider frame 15 and in this connection it is to be noted that the particular relative angularity o-f the guide bars causes the block sections to move longitudinally apart or together a greater distance than they move outwardly. This arrangement is necessary by reason of the fact that in the manufacture of ladies hats and the crowns thereof, the longitudinal distance through the head increases in greater proportion to the increase in size transversely through the A head.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that by simply pulling downwardly on the handle of the stem and rotating the latter through the medium of the handle, the block sections can be lmoved toward or away from each other thus increasing or decreas- ,ing the size ofthe block as to its circumferential distance and that when the handle is released, the spring 28 returns the stem to normal position to lock th'e block sections in the positions into which they have been moved. In order to facilitate this operation I preferably have the under-surfaces of the guide bars 16 provided with a series of graduations 33 indicating the different sizes of hats or crowns that are to be formedV and kthe block will appear as a solid yunit after it has been adjusted tothe desired size. Of

Vcourse it will he understood that a large number of these inserts vor pieces .are provided, a set for each different size to which the hat block may be adjusted.

lith the above construction it will be apparent that the hat block described can be readily arranged for the accommodation of material for the manufacture of the crowns in that the steaming ofthe material forming the hat can be accomplished whileV the same is on the block so that the material will be shrunk down close to the block without danger of having the shrinkage bri-ng about a size that is too small from that originally decided upon. It will be further apparent that the device described consists of few cheaply manufactured and because of the simplicity of arrangement of :the assembled structure, it canl be operated accurately7 and neednot necessarily be devoted only to persons of long experience in the art.

Having described my invention, l claim- 1. A hat block comprising a plurality of block sections, a vframe having said block sections mounted to slide thereon, a spring engaged stem having squared portions, one of which normally engages with the frame to hold the stem against movement, a revoluble disk engagedY by the other squared portion of the stem for imparting rotation to the disk when the stem is actuated and rods mounted on the disk to be operated thereby and connecting with the block sections for moving the block sections toward or away from each other on said frame.

2. A hat block comprising a plurality of block sections, a frame having said block j sections mounted to slide thereon, a spring engaged stem having squared portions, one of which normally engages with the frame to hold the stem against movement, a revoluble disk engaged by the `other squared portion of the stem for imparting rotation I.

to the disk when the stem Yis actuated, rods mounted on the ydisk -to be loperated thereby and connecting with the block sections .for

moving the block .sections toward or away from each other on said frame, inserts for disposition between adjacent `block sections and means on the frame for indicating vthe relative movement of said block sections thereon.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

KATHRYNE wiLsoN.

90 and simple parts vand therefore can be 

